A free plane ticket, money, and an adventure. The ad on social media has lured young women to accept a program for combined work and studies in Russia.
It wasn't until the women arrived in the Russian republic of Tatarstan that it turned out they would be assembling Iranian Shahed drones to be used in the war in Ukraine.
Some of the women tell the AP news agency about broken promises, long working days, constant surveillance, and working with chemicals that irritate their skin.
Russia has recruited women between 18 and 22 years old to address an acute shortage of labor. The women come from, among others, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka, but the recruitment has also targeted other parts of Asia and Latin America.
About 90 percent of the foreign women recruited through the program work with drone manufacturing, according to AP's investigation.
